Yesterday I spoke at length about Tropical wholefoods and World Fairtrade day. I said I’d been in the kitchen baking a gluten free apricot kernel cake with orange syrup in celebration of fairtrade.

Today I’m going to share the decadent recipe with you It requires a lot of eggs, but it’s worth the time and effort of separating them and baking the cake – it’s a true celebration cake and is better if left a day before eating!

1. Heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas Mark 4. For fan assisted, reduce by 20 C.
2. Grind the apricot kernels in an electric grinder down to a powder.
3. Mix the egg yolks well with the sugar, orange zest, cinnamon and all the ground kernels.
4. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them in.
5. Pour into a lined 24cm (9 inch) round cake tin and bake for 40 minutes.
6. Make a syrup by bringing the orange juice to boil with the 100g caster sugar. Remove from the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar.
7. When the cake has cooled, make little holes on the top with a fork to allow the juice to be absorbed, and turn out into a deep tin or a dish that will just contain it and the syrup. Pour the syrup on top and leave to soak for a few hours or overnight.
8. Serve with crème fraîche, decorated perhaps with a few apricot kernels, slivers.

Verdict?

[amazon-product small=”1″]0743275985[/amazon-product]Little Miss Green gave it a big thumbs up. It really is a delicious cake; rich, moist but with the great health-giving properties of the apricot kernels. It’s not an every day cake, but it is lovely for a special occasion.

If that’s got your creative (or digestive) juices flowing, there are plenty more recipes to choose from on the Tropical wholefoods website.

You can buy Tropical Wholefoods products from some supermarkets, independent health foods stores and direct through their website.